Happy Friday everyone! Like I said yesterday, this week has put me over the edge and I definitely need a weekend to catch up on life. I decided this week to link up with Eat, Pray, Run DC, Mar on the Run, and You Signed up for What for the Friday Five! The theme this week is “Five Reasons to Run a ____” and after last week’s half I had been thinking recently about why the half-marathon is such a great distance!
1. The half-marathon is a milestone race for many runners. It seems like by training for and completing that first half-marathon, you have reached a running milestone. Many runners starting out may be intimidated by the distance, but decide it is a goal they would like to one day accomplish. It often sets the stage for that desire to run a full marathon, too!
2. You can see drastic improvements in your time with training. Many runners start out with the goal of completing the half-marathon, and then once they have completed one or two then they start training for time. It is pretty common to see improvements of 20-30 minutes as runners begin putting in more specific training! For example, Nicole has cut off a full hour from her first half-marathon time!!
3. Training for a half will force you to exercise regularly. If one of your goals is to lose weight, work out more, get healthier, etc… training for a half is a great way to start working towards those goals. Typically you can train for a half marathon by running about 4 days a week, for at least 30 minutes a day. This is a pretty good amount of cardio to jump-start a fitness regime. Keep in mind that you may be hungrier and want to eat more! Try to fuel with healthy foods rather than junk:)
4. It doesn’t take over your life the way marathon training does. You will probably need to set aside a couple of hours on Saturday or Sunday to do your long run, but other than that it doesn’t take up a ton of time. It’s pretty reasonable to run a few days a week without it interfering with other things in your life too much.
5. You will get to enjoy all the “fun stuff” about being a distance runner: gels, chafing, blisters, foam rolling, porta potties, good runs and bad runs, emergency bathroom situations, talking the “runner talk”, runger, and much more plus you get a medal and the amazing feeling of crossing the finish line!
What are some other reasons to run a half-marathon?
What is your favorite race distance? I would say that my favorite distance to train for is the full marathon but I am much more comfortable with racing a half!
Thinking about signing up for a half-marathon (or other race distance)? Consider working with a running coach!
I agree it’s such a great distance for all of those reasons. I plan to run 2 or 3 this winter/spring instead of a marathon. I think mentally a marathon break will be needed!
Yes, me too! I don’t think I will be doing a spring full but I am already signed up for the rock n roll dc half. I think it will be a good break to take a season off from marathon training!
I just wrote you a whole novel and it’s gone lol. Ugh! Anyway, I was saying I love the half. I may never do a 26.2. Never say never but honestly, I may never. My body does well with the 13.1 It’s challenge and an accomplishment yet not too taxing. I hate a 5k and a 10k is eh to me but the 13.1, I just love it. I don’t run many races a year but the ones I do, are 13.1.
I think the I’ll be doing half marathons for a long time, while I’m not sure how many more full marathons I will do.They are just a lot to handle, take a lot of time, and are tough on the body. I’m still kind of addicted to the full because I love the long training runs, but its nice to know the half will always be there as an option.
I enjoy the half distance too – and I agree with the PR improvement too, it’s definitely where I’ve seen the biggest improvements (I took 30 mn off my time once!) enjoy your weekend!
Wow 30 minutes is amazing!! I’ve also seen my biggest improvements in the half although I have the most room for improvement in the full:)
The half is fun and Philly is a great city to run in. It used to be called The Philadelphia Distance Run, but I believe it has changed it’s name. This was my favorite race. It was always held the 3rd weekend of September, so the weather started out chilly, and never got too hot by the finish. The course was awesome, running through some great areas including The Italian Market at Ninth St. I’ve done the full there twice, and felt very accomplished, but the half there was the best!
That sounds like a great race! It’s always fun to find a race that you love and would go back to every year.
I would say that the half is my favorite distance to race, and for all the same reasons as you mentioned. It is long enough that you can’t just shirk your training, and that you can feel the pain while you run it, but short enough that you can still race it.
I have yet to be able to “race” a full marathon…and while that is the goal for my next one who knows what will happen! I feel like with the half I have learned to race it and I can handle running them often enough that I’ve learned how to pace them appropriately.
I really love the distance of a half! You’re completely right about it taking up just the right amount of time to train, so it’s perfect for me right now. I’m so excited to work on speed more and hopefully see some PRs in the Spring!
Yes! It sounds like you are on your way to starting to train again! Can’t wait to see what spring races have in store for you:)
I love the half distance! It’s a good challenge, especially if you’re running for time, but it doesn’t consume all of your free time the way a full does. Plus I feel less wrecked afterwards, so it’s easier to go have fun with friends after the race.
Very true, after a full all I want to do is lay in bed. After a half I can actually celebrate!
Lisa, it’s so true that the half marathon allows runners to really get into some of the longer run fun stuff like fuel (GU, etc), the joys of Body Glide, trying to find bathrooms, etc.; I didn’t think of this, but that’s a lot of the fun, right? I’m so glad you mentioned it! I love you list and I love that we share the same distance as one of our faves. Great post! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Thank you! I think all that stuff is part of the “fun” in a way only runners can understand:)
I like the half marathon because I can train, finish the race, but still have my weekends after my long runs. I have no idea if I’ll ever want to do a full. The option is open but at this point, I stop at 13.1.
I used to think the same thing! Races are pretty addicting:)
The half marathon is great! It’s such a big accomplishment when you cross that finish line, and there are goals you can work toward (mine is breaking two hours). And, they are popping up EVERYwhere now, so you can make a fun weekend out of it by traveling somewhere.
Traveling for half-marathons is a great reason to run them! I ran one in Providence RI and I probably never would have gone there if it weren’t for the race! I would love to do some other destination races too!
I love the half distance as well. For me it’s challenging enough without taking over.
So true! There’s no denying that 13 miles is a challenge, but its not going to takeover your life the way marathon training can.
yes! no matter how tired I was, training made me work out regularly! gotta crosstrain, do core work, intervals! whew!
Exactly!
I do like half marathons because it doesn’t take as much time in training as a full marathon does.
Very true!
Totally agree! Another thing I love about the half is that so many more people run them. I know it can be annoying to run in a crowded race, but I really love the energy from running with lots of other people. When I ran a marathon, the crowd got pretty thin pretty quick!
It can be annoying to weave but it certainly can get lonely running a full marathon with no one around! Good point!
I’d love to run a half-marathon someday, but considering the only official race I’ve done so far was a 5K that’s probable a ways off.
I’m sure you could do it sooner than you think!!
I agree with all of these! I think all 5 are reasons I decided to sign up for a half marathon this year.
That’s awesome! I hope you had (or have) a great half-marathon!:)
The half marathon was a milestone for me. I gave up running (regularly) for a few years and when I came back, the half was the first race I tackled. Happy Friday 🙂
The half seems to be such a good race distance for so many people…long enough to feel like a challenge but still reasonable to do even when just getting into (or back to) running!
My first race ever is a half, and I love the distance. I haven’t run one since June…I had two on the schedule for this fall but missed one due to illness and will now miss the other due to a wedding. I am looking forward to running some and shooting for a PR in the spring!
Great list. Training for my half helped me be healthier all round with my habits and life. Was a great experience I keep going back for.
That is awesome to hear! I’m glad you found something enjoyable that helped you to improve your overall health!
the half marathon is a great distance. i think i like racing 10 milers the most – long enough to feel hard but short enough to be speedy. a good mix.
I enjoy those too- I’ve only done one course (the same course 3 times) but its nice to not have to worry about too much taper or recovery, but still a relatively long distance!
Yes! I really trained for speed for my goal half in March and cut 12 min off my time….not as big of a change as 20-30 min but I was working from a 2:02 half ….
12 minutes is awesome!! It shows that speed work really does help!
I LOVE the half marathon pace, and once I get super comfortable with this distance and I graduate from college I am going to attempt at another full marathon!
That’s awesome and such a great goal!
YES! I can’t wait until my marathon is over so I can get back to a normal training life! 😉 my weekends have been brutal!
I always look forward to having more free time on the weekends after marathon training is over!
I’m pretty sure the half is my favorite distance to race. Even though I’ve only ran one once, it was just so much fun! I like that although it’s not a full marathon, there’s room enough to fix pacing errors if there were some in the beginning, which can be pretty hard for the shorter distances.
Very true! That’s my problem with the 5k…even a few seconds too slow in the first mile can really screw up the whole race!
Thanks for the shoutout!!
I agree with all of these! It seems so simple to train For a half compared to training for a full! I love the half distance-it’s easy to go all out for it and you’re not sore or destroyed like you are post marathon!
I can barely remember the last time I “trained for” a half…Usually I run a half while training for a full! I kind of don’t know what I would do with myself if I didn’t have 3 hour runs on the weekends!
There’s always time for wine 🙂 I am a big fan of 10ks and wish there were more around!